"This," Dobson proclaimed, "is Satan's trump card if I have ever seen it."

When asked to define fundamentalism, an eminent American historian once quipped, "A fundamentalist is an evangelical who is angry about something."

Right now, evangelicals are angry about feminism.

As Dobson's comments illustrate, a new militancy against women's rights is spreading throughout America's conservative churches.

In the early 20th century, some Protestants reacted against theological liberalism and modern culture by forming a movement dubbed "Fundamentalism." Fearing the disorder of modernity, fundamentalists hammered away at the sources of chaos: smoking, dancing, rock 'n roll, movies, Roman Catholicism, liberalism and communism.

With the demise of global communism, fundamentalist militancy turned toward internal enemies: television, Bill and Hillary Clinton, homosexuals, abortion. But in recent years, fundamentalists lay the blame for American disorder squarely at the feet of women.

Not all women, of course, only those who challenge their views offemininity and motherhood. The so-called "feminist agenda" threatens to destroy salvation's cradle, the Christian family.

Although contemporary feminism provides fundamentalist leaders a new crusade, they err on a very significant point. No "feminist agenda" exists.

There is no "feminist agenda" because there is no single feminism. Rather, feminism exists in numerous forms: classical liberal democratic, religious, socialist, Marxist, radical, post-modern, non-Western feminisms, and womanist movements.

These feminisms share commitments to women's legal equality and human rights -- and the need to alleviate suffering of women and children. Yet, they argue about how to implement these common concerns.

Anti-feminist fundamentalism wrongly identifies the views of a minority of feminists as a monolithic "feminist agenda." They set up a straw-woman to attack their opponents.

Although Dobson failed to mention it, among Beijing's delegates are numerous religious feminists. Throughout the world, faithful Muslim, Buddhist, Christian, Jewish and Hindu women draw feminist convictions from their ethics, Scriptures, and spiritualities.

Point 31 of the conference document acknowledges this: "Religion plays a central role in the lives of millions of women, in the way they live and the aspirations they have for the future. While any form of extremism, religious or secular, has a negative impact on women. . . . [the] serious issues with which the world is confronted today require a more effective response by societies not only to the material but also to the spiritual needs of individuals, including women."

Dressed traditionally, with her head covered, she said, "I stand before you not only as a prime minister, but as a women and a mother . . . it is socially correct for a woman to work and to be a mother at the same time." The delegates applauded enthusiastically.

So, contra fundamentalist propaganda, the Beijing conference opened with a religious woman stating her dual commitment to work and motherhood.

One evangelical magazine called Beijing's agenda "bewildering."

That's right. Because the women delegates differ as much as any other group of 40,000 people, numerous agendas -- including religious ones -- are shaping the conference.